Table-elevating mechanism



April 27 1926. v 1,582,430

A. PODEL TABLE ELEVATING MECHANI SM Original Filed July 30, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l avwento z .April 27 1926. I

" A. PODEL TABLE ELEVATING MECHANISM Original Filed July 30, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 27 1926. 3 A.PODEL TABLE ELEVATING MECHANISM Original Filed July so, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 27 1926. 1,582,430

PODEL TABLE ELEVATING MECHANISM Original Filed 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet lll """lllll.

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April 27 192s.

A. PODEL TABLE ELEVATING MECHANISM Original Filed July 30, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 um/n cer 1U ticularly, to table elevating Patented Aprf27, 1926.

' umreo sr-Arss ABRAHAM roman, or Lone & CLOSURE coaronnnon, NEW YORK.

o gaa application filed my 30, 1924,

'1 a substantially constant level to facilitate the 'level of the stack substantially j facilitate the feeding operation. ,A further object of the invention is' the provision ofa source of feeding thercofto conveyors or other ma chines. k

The general object of the present invention is to provide a table elevating mechanism which minimizes the labor required to mount stacks of sheet material thereon and which is adapted to 'receive a stack of sheet material and maintain its upper level substantially constant to facilitate the feeding of the sheets either manually or by automatic achinery. 1 Another object of the invention is toip'rovide a machine adapted to remove a stack of sheet material from a truck or the like and raise it automatically tolits proper position for the feeding operations of automatic machinery, and to maintain the upper constant to the-position of the table at will and the pro- '-'vis1on of a second source of power for maintaining the upper level of the sheetniaterial substantially constant and the provision of safety devices to prevent the two sources" of power-from being effective simultaneously. A more specific object is the provision of devices for raising-the stack of sheet material at a rate slightly greater than therate at which the height of the stack is decreased automatic meansfor rendering said devices I ineffective when the top of the stack is above a predetermined level, thereby facilitating the feeding of the sheets from the stack.-

Knoth'er object of the invention is to provide a source of power for raising and lowering the sheet supporting mechanism at a rapid rate under the controlof theo erator V and the provision of a second source 0 power for raising the sheet material at substantial- ISLAND CITY OF LONG ISLAND CITY,1\TEW-YORK, a

TABLE ELEvA TING mnonaltrsm.

Serial No. 729,043. "Divided and this application filed July 14, 1925. Serial m. 43,542.

imizing the initial cost invention in practice.

power for changmg' .clutch locking mechahi'smf by'the feeding operation and to provide wane sar orricsnew YORK, ASSIGNOR 'ro- ANCHOR. can 4 conroaa'rron or" ly the same rate that the height of the I stack is decreased by the feeding operation, I

and the provision of interdependent clutches to prevent both of. said sources of power from being efl'ective upon said machine at the same time. i

. Further objects of this invention contemplatei'a machine of the above characteristicswhich is of such strong and simple construction and such accurate operationas tojinsure its proper performance under all conditions commonly encountered in this class of work; to construct such a machine of inexpensive and readily obtainable parts thereby minof the machine and the cost of repairs.

Other and further objects oftheinvention will obvious upon anundersta'nding of the illustrated embodiment about to be described or will be obvious from the accompanying drawings or indicated in those herein specifically disclosed will become evident upon the employment of the A preferred form of the inventionha's been chosen for purposesfof i-llustrationand de-' scription' and is shown drawings, wherein I I Fig. 1 is a front 'elevational view-of the machine;

the appended claims and various advantages other than.

in the accompanying Fig. 2 is a side elevational view; I? i Fig. ,3 is a top plan vlew; Fig. 4 is a detailed top plan view'of the automatic-clutch operating mechanism with certain parts broken away for simplicity; Fig 5 is a front elevational view. of the echanism shown in Fig. 4; .F,1g. 6-1s a cross sectional view along the line 66 of Fig. 5; 1

' Fig 7 is a detailed view of a feeler and its connection to the encased wire; and Fig. 8 is a detailed view In the manufacture of sheet material and also in' the manufacture of articles from sheet material, It-"1s usually necessary to -feed the sheets one at a time through a series of machines. For instance, in the manufacture of metal containers or metal-caps for containers, ,the blank sheets may be passed through cleaning machines, lacquer-- ing machines, a series of printing presses and finally through various stampingmachines-necessaryior the construction of.

showing the ice the articles. When these steps are consecutive and the machines are adjacent each other, suitable conveying mechanisms may be used to deliver the sheets from one machine to another. In many instances, how- ,ever, the steps are not consecutive and the respective sheets must be stacked. one upon another, loaded upon trucks and frequently i stored for a period of time. In such cases,

-machine and separates individual sheets from a stack and feeds them to the machines. However, various forms of machines for automatically feeding the sheets have been developed. The present invention contemplates a very satisfactory and highly efiicient table elevating mechanism which is adapted to receive the stack of sheet material directly from the truck, raise it to its proper position and automatically maintain the upper level of the stack substantially constant throughout the feeding operation. While the present embodiment has been designed to cooperate with the feeding mechanism of applicants copending application, Serial No. 7 29,043, of which the present application is a division; nevertheless, many of its features are readily applicable to otherfeeding machines and the/ invention is adapted to be associated with feeding devices generally, or=to be used independently thereof.-

Referring to the drawings and more par ticularly to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, there is shown a table elevating mechanism 1 associated with a sheet feeding mechanism 2, which is adapted to feed sheets one at a time to any suitable machine 4. The table elevating mechanism comprises a pair of upright channel members 5 flanged at their lower endsand bolted to a pair of foundation members 6, whichhave a bracing member 7 joining the rear ends thereof. The upper ends of the upright members are also flanged and bolted to the ends of a cross member .8 forming the'upper portion of the machine and cooperating with the upright members to form a rigid framework adapted to support the various mechanisms about to be described. 'A U-shaped member 9 is bolted to the central portion of the upright members and, in additionto bracing these,

forms a rigid support for a conveyor mechani'sm 10 to which the sheets of material are fed. A pair of vertical shafts 12 extend through the channels of the upright members and have their lower ends mounted in the bearings 14: of the foundation members 6 and their upper ends mounted in ,upright members. A pair of bevelled gears 21 are mounted at the upper ends of the shafts 12 and mesh with the bevelled gears 22 on shaft 24 so that any movement of one shaft will be communicated to the other.

A hand wheel 25 is mounted on one of the channel members and connected to one of the shafts 12 through bevelled gears 26 and 27 to raise or lower the table 20 manually at the will of the operator. In View of the fact that the machine is adapted for handling metallic sheets, the weight of which is very considerable when a stack three or four feet in height is placed upon the table,

and since it is desirable to raise such a stack quickly to its proper position, there is provided a motor 28 on the cross member 8 to facilitate the. movement of the table at the will of the operator. A motor shaft 29 is coupled to a worm gear 30 meshing with the gear 31 at the upper end of one of the shafts 12. These gears are enclosed in a suitable casing 32 and a friction clutch 34 in the upper portion of the casing connects the gear 31 to one of the shafts 12. Clutch levers 33 and 35 extend to the respective sides of the machine so that the operator may control the clutch by the lever 33 when he is at the front of the machine or by the lever 35 when he is at the back of it. A rod 36 is attached to and extends downwardly from the lever 35 and has its lower end attached to the lever 37 pivotally mountedon the foundation member 6 with a roller 38 on the end thereof adapted to be engaged by the table supporting mechanism when the table has reached a predetermined lower level, that is, when the table has been lowered to the truck 39 and disto be engaged by the table supporting mechanism when it has reached a predetermined upper level likewise to disengage clutch 34: and stopv the movement of the table 20. These safety devices make it impossible for the motor 28 to raise or lower thetable beyond predetermined limits, thereby preventing any damage to the machines through the negligence of the operator.

Since machines of this character are used for furnishing sheets of material to other machines at a predetermined rate, 1t 15 der operates the feeding mechanism.

15 the clutch 48.

against the pull of the spring 65..

s'irable to coordinate the feeding mechanism with the machines to be fed, and since the operation of the table elevating mechanism depends considerably upon the rate at which 5 the feeding mechanism is operating, it is desirable to drive the table elevating mechanism from the same source of power which I In the present embodiment, a shaft 43 of the con- 1 veyor is connected through the sprocket 41 and chain 44 to sprocket 42, which is free to rotate on the shaft 45. The sprocket 42 may be connected to thesleeve 46 having the gear' 47 mounted thereon by means of The' gear 47 meshes with gear 49 onv shaft 50 and drives through gear 51 thereon, a gear 52 loosely mounted on shaft 24.

7A clutch 55 a jaw 57 integral with the gear 52, controls the operation of shaft 24 which in turn controls the movement of the table 20. The jaw 56 of the clutch 'is slidable longitudinally ofthe shaft 24 and has an annular channel 58 adapted .to-accommodate a forked member'59 rigidly mounted on the shaft 60. A lever/61 is rigidly secured to the rear end of the shaft and isextended to one'sideof the machine and dis mposed to be engaged bythe table supporting-mechanism when the-table has reached a predetermined level. A'set screw 62 is mounted on the end of the lever whereby the upper limit of the'tablemaybe regulated 35 as desired. A clutch lever 64 1s=mounted at the forward end of the shaft 60 and extends upwardly therefrom. A spring 65 is secured at one end to the cross member 8 and at its other end to the lever 64 to resiliently re- .40'. tain the clutch 55 in closed or effective 7 postion. vA latch 67 is pivotally mounted on r the extension 68 and notched at 69 to engage 1 a cooperating notch 7 0 in the lever.64. A

spring 70 secured at itsrespective ends to 45 the cross member 8 and-to the latch 67 holds the: latch against the lever 64 so that when the clutch 55 is opened or moved to ineffective position, the lever 64 is engaged by. the notch 69 and held in open positipn Preferably, the table elevating mechanism, when connected to the conveyor, is designed to raise the table ata rate slightly greater than the rate of decrease in the I 55 height of thefstack due tothe hemoval of sheets therefrom. In order to prevent the top of the stack from exceeding the level at which sheets may be most easily fed either manually or automatically; anencased wire 72 is attached at one end to the clutch lever 64 and tot-he extension 74 andat its other end to a suitable feeler 7 5 which may be a vacuum cup or other suitable device utilized in separating the sheetsfrom the stack in the feeding operation. The feeleror vacuum y I having a jaw 56 keyed to the 20 shaft. 24 and cup is provided with a stem 76 which ex I tends through a sleeve 7 7 and has a plate 7 8 mounted at its upper end. A spring 79 mounted between the lower end of the feelcr and the sleeve 77 retains the plate 78 against the sleeve. The wire 72 extends through the plate 78, to which the casing 73 is attached, and is secured to the sleeve 77. lVhen the sleeve 7 T is reciprocated in a vertical direction andwhen the vacuum cup or feeler engages the top of the stack, the plate 78 is separated from the sleeve 7 7, which in turn, pulls the wire 72 through its casing 73, and since the other end of the wire is connected to the lever- 64, when the upper level of the stack exceeds a predetermined limit, the wire 72 will'disengage the clutch 55, which wilhbe automatically held in disenheight of the stackdecreases to the desired level and; then the operator may close the clutch 55.

-The sheet feeding mechanism comprises generally a vertical reciprocating.member 80,1"vhich carriesa pair of vacuum cups to separate individual sheets from the stack and a pair of hooks 81 which are reciprogaged position by the latch 67 .until the cated in a horizontal direction to move the raised sheets on to the conveyor. Suitable cams for operating this mechanism are mounted upon the shaft 45'and the" rotation of this shaft is controlled by the clutch 84,

the movable jaw 85 thereof being keyed to i "the shaft and operated by means of the lever 86. A more detailed description of the feeding mechanism may be found in applicants copending application, Serial N o. 7 29,043, referred to hereinbefore. I j

In the preferred embodiment two sources of power are utilized,- one for raising and lowering the table rapidly at will and the other for raising the table slowly to compensate for the decrease in the height of the stack due to the removal of sheets therefrom. In order to prevent both of these sources of power from being effective upon the table elevating devices at the same time, the clutch 48'isprovidcd on the shaft 45 and is adapted to control both the feeding and table elevating mechanisms which are operated by power derived from the conveyor mechanism. This clutch is operated by-means of a lever "88 pivotally secured to the extension 89 on 34. By this construction, the lever 35 can-' not: be. pulled down to engage the clutch 34 unless the notch 91 is in its proper position,

the cross member 8 with its end connected mechanisms.

table, the friction clutch 34 is operated to connect the motor with the shafts 12 and the table is lowered rapidly until it engages the truck 39 and at that time the members 18 engage the roller 38 which disengages the friction clutch 34, through rod 36 and lever 35. The table and truck are thenremoved and another truck rolled in, having a table and a stack of tin mounted thereon. The extensions 19 are under the ends of the table 20 and when the rotation of the motor is reversed and the friction clutch 34 thrown in, the table is rapidly raised until the top of the stack engages the extension 40 which disengages the friction clutch through the rod 36 and lever 35. The operator then throws in the clutch 48 by means of the lever 91 and likewise throws in the clutch 55, if it is not already in effective position. As the sheets are removed from the stack, the stack is '30 raised through the sprocket 42, sleeve 46,

gear-47 and gears 49 and 51, on shaft 50,

and gears 52 and 22, on shaft 24. The table is elevated at a rate substantially equal to or slightly greater than the rate of decrease in the height of the stack. Should the height of the stack exceed apredetermined'limit, the vacuum cup 7 5 will be pressed upwardly an excessive amount which will separate the plate 78 and sleeve 77 to pull the wire 72 through its casing and operate the clutch 55 through lever 64. Thereafter, when the height'of the stack has decreased, the operator may throw in the clutch which is being held opened by the latch 67. When the stack the clutch 55.

of tin has been used up, the table supporting member 18 will engage the lever 61 and open 1 At this time, the clutch'48 .is thrown out and the cycle described above is repeated.

.It will be seen that the present invention provides a sheet elevating mechanism. readily adaptableto automatic feeding mecha nisms or to manual feeding. The human element is almost completely eliminated due to the safety devices "which control the elevating mechanisms and prevent the table from exceeding a' predetermined lower level or a predetermined upper level under the influence of either of the two sources of power.

Considerable time is saved in that the machine is adapted to remove a stack of tin di- 7 rectly from a truck without'necessitating an operator removing it in quantities and placing it on the table of the machine. It will be furthernoted that these advantages are attained by a machine which is simple in construction, easily manufactured and adapted in every way for the commercial usage or dinarily encountered in this class of work. Obviously, the present-invention may be embodied in constructions other than those specifically disclosed herein, and it is to be understood therefore, that the above disclosure is to be taken as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a pair of upright shafts, a

table mounted on said shafts and adapted to support sheet material, a horizontal shaft geared at its respective ends to-said upright shafts, a friction clutch adapted to connect a source of power to one of said upright shafts, a second clutch adapted to connect a second source of power to said horizontal shaft, and means to prevent said sources of power from being effective at the same time.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a pair of upright shafts, a table mounted on said shafts and adapted to support sheet material,.a horizontal shaft geared at its respective ends to said upright shafts, a friction clutch adapted to connect a source of,.power to one of said upright shafts, a second clutch adapted to connect a 4 second source of power to said horizontal shaft, and means to render said second clutch ineffective when said friction clutch is in effective position.

3. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of sheet elevating devices, a

clutch adapted to connect a source of power to said devices, a second clutch adapted to 'connect a second source of power to said devices, and means dependent upon one of said clutches to render the other ineffective when saidclutch is in effective position, thereby preventing both of the sources of power from being effective simultaneously! 4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of sheet elevating devices, a clutch adapted to connect a source of power to said devices, a second clutch adapted to connect a second source of power to said devices, and a third clutch dependent upon said first clutch and intermediate said second clutch and its source ofpower, adapted to the combination of sheet'elevating devices,

a source of power connected to said devices,

a clutch adaptedito. connect a second source of power to said 'devices, a'clutch intermediate said first; mentioned source of power clutches. v

6. In a machine of the classdescribed, the

and said devices, and means to prevent si-. multaneous operation of both of said combination of a table adapted to support combination of sheet elevating devices, ,a source of power connected to said devices,"a friction clutch adapted to connect a second source of power to said devices, and a clutch intermediate said first mentionedsource of power and said devices, the operating handle on said second clutch, when closed, being adapted to preventthe closing of said friction clutch.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a pair of vertical channelmembers, a pair of shafts -1nounted therein, a table mounted on said shafts adapted to support sheet material, a source of power mounted at the upper end of said vertical members, and a friction clutch supported also by said vertical members for connecting said source ofpower to said shaft to change the position of said table.

' 8. In a machine of ,the class described, the

' sheet material, devices for raising said table,

- said table has reached a a source of'power for operatingsaid devices,

a friction clutch connecting said source of power to said devices, and automatic 'means for disengaging said friction clutch when predetermined upper limit. 7

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table, a source of power foroperating said devices, a clutchwconne'cting said source of power ,tosaid devices, and automatic means for disengaging said clutch when said table has reached either a predetermined 1113per limit or a predetermined lower limit.

10. In a sheet handling machine, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table, a source of power for moving said table vert'r call'y at one rate, another source of power for moving said table at a difierent rate, clutches for connecting each of the sources of power to said devices, and means preventing said clutches from being in operative positions simultaneously.

11. In a. machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table, a friction clutch adapted to connect a source of power to said devices for moving said table vertically at onerate, a jaw clutch adapted to connect anotheij source of power to said devices for moving said table at a diifeient rate, and a rod for connecting said jaw clutch and said frictiqn clutch to prevent the V simultaneous operation of the clutches, thereby preventing the two'source's of power from being effective on saiddevices at the same time.

12. In a machin'e of the class described," the combination of devices for elevating a table, a clutch-adapted to connect-a source of power to said table elevating devices, au-

clutch is opened.

tomatic means for disconnecting said source of power by .the operation of said clutch when said table has reached a predetermined for operating said clutch to disconnect said source of power when said table has reached a predetermined level, and means responsive to the upper level of the sheet material for operating said clutch.

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for elevating said table, a clutch for connecting a source hof power to, said devices, resilient means for yieldably holding said clutch in effective position, automatic means for operating said clutch in opposition to said resilient means to disconnect said source of power when said table has reached a. predetermined level, and

means responsive to the upper level of the sheet material for operating said clutch.

15. In. a machine 6f the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for elevating said table, a clutch for connecting a source of power to said devices, resilient means for yieldably holding said clutch in efiective po- 'sition, automatic means for operating said clutch in opposition to said yielding means,

to disconnect said source of power when said I tablehas reached a v predetermined level,

other means responsive to the upper level of the sheet material for operating said clutch, and means for positively holding said clutch its in ineffective position when opened'by either of said means.

16; In a machine ofthe class described,-

the combination of a table adapted to sup-,

port sheet material, devices for elevating said table,

a clutch forjconnecting a source of power to said devices, resilient means for retaining said clutch in effective position,

clutch in, ineffective position in opposition to and automatic .means for retaining'said said resilient means when said clutch is 1 opened.

- 17. In a machine of the class described,

the combination. of a table adaptedto support sheet material;

devices for elevating said a table,

a clutch for connecting a source tending upwardly therefrom, tached to' the frame-work of, the machine and to said lever for retaining said clutch of power to said devices. having a lever ex} v a spring atin efi'ective position and "a notched bar held resiliently against said leverlto engage and retain said clutch in inefiective position in opposition to said resilient means when said 18. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for elevating said table, a clutch for connecting a source of power to said device, and means adapted to engage the upper portion of said sheet material periodically, and to disconnect said source of power when said sheets are above a predetermined level.

' 19. .In a machine of the class described, the combination of a tablev adapted to support sheet material, devices for elevating said table, a clutch for connecting a source of power to said devices, and means adapted to engage the upper portion of said'sheet material periodically, and an encased wire connected to said means and to said clutch to disconnect said source of power when said sheets are above a predetermined level.

20. In a device of the class described, the

V combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table,

a sleeve adapted to reciprocate in a vertical direction, a feeler in said sleeve extending below the lower portion thereof, and resiliently retained in its normal position, said feeler being adapted to engage the sheets of material when said sleeve is reciprocated, and means responsive to the relative movement of said feeler on said sleeve to render said devices inetfectiv V 21. In a device of-the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table, a sleeve, a feeler in said sleeve extending below the lower portion thereof, and means responsive to'the relative movement of saidfeeler and said sleeve to render said devices ineffective.

22. In a device of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table,

a clutch for controlling said devices, a sleeve, a feeler mounted on said sleeve and having a plate associated therewith adapted to engage the sleeve and limit the lower position of said feeler, resilient means for retaining said plate inengagement with said sleeve, and an encased wire attached to said clutch at one end and having its other end extending through said plate and attached to said sleeve.

28. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheet material, devices for raising said table, a clutch for controlling said devices, a sleeve, a feeler mounted on said sleeve and having a plate associated therewith adapted to engage the sleeve and limit the lower position of said-feeler, resilient means for retaining said plate in engagement with said sleeve, and an encased wire attached to said clutchat one end and having its other end extended through said plate and rigidly secured to said sleeve, and means for reciprocating said, sleeve whereby said feeler engages sheets of material to move said plate away from said sleeve to operate said clutch by means of said encased wire.

2a. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a table adapted to support sheets of material, devices for elevating said table, a clutch for controlling said devices, a shaft adapted to control said clutch, a lever on said shaft positioned to be actuated when said tablereaches a predetermined level, and means connected to said clutch adapted to be actuated when said sheets exceed a predetermined level, whereby said clutch is operated to render said devices inetfective when either said table or said sheets exceed predetermined levels.

ABRAHAM PODEL. 

